Pyrrhenees

Pyrrhenees proper n

Fr. < L. < Gk Pyrene < Gk pur, fire + eneon, dumb, secret.

1. High mountains; mountain range which separates France and Spain; peaks named for a nymph that Hercules loved, said to be buried on these mountains; [fig.] huge obstacle; large object; thing obstructing one's view of the beloved; insuperable distance between a lover and a deceased loved one.